Two-try hero Blake Ferguson brings an X-factor to Cronulla they have been missing for years, says coach Ricky Stuart.

Winger Ferguson had plenty to do, including a fend on Parramatta workhorse Nathan Hindmarsh, to get across the line for the Sharks' only four-pointers in the drought-breaking 11-0 win over the Eels at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night.

"He's a really good footy player, working on lots of his footy and he's improving," Stuart said of the 20-year-old Indigenous All Stars representative.

"He's an exciting kid to coach and he's an exciting player."

Stuart said Ferguson and 19-year-old fullback Albert Kelly, a cousin of Melbourne superstar Greg Inglis, brought a spark to the Sharks' attack that the club had been missing in a dour past few seasons.

"He and Albert put on a bit of a special treat on that far side ... it could have been some exciting footy," Stuart said.

"We haven't had that at Cronulla.

"They're two exciting footy players, both of them."

Ferguson said Stuart had encouraged him to back his attacking instincts in the opposition's half.

"When the time's right, not when we're in the back of the field and we've got to complete the set, but when we're in their half we can play a bit of backyard footy," he said.

Ferguson said he had been confident as he headed for the line on both occasions, even with the legendary Hindmarsh chasing him.

"He's a good player," he said of the Eels veteran.

"I knew what I had to do so I just went for the line and scored the try.

"I only had to beat one man so in those situations you know what to do."

He said the fend was a weapon he found easiest to use on the wing after also playing in the centres for the Sharks.

"I think a couple of times when I've been playing in the centres I couldn't really get my fend out, I would be getting the ball a bit too late," he said.

"Now it's good because we're getting go-forward in the middle so our outside backs get a bit of room.

"I like the wing, I like getting the ball in those sorts of situations, I like jumping for the ball, I just like getting the ball in my hands."

The week with the Indigenous All Stars also provided a confidence boost for Ferguson, who made his first grade debut last year.

"I was hanging out with the higher profile players," he said.

"It was just good to mix with some of the boys and I got a lot of confidence out of that.

"I just learnt how to back myself when I've got one defender to beat ... instinctive stuff."

Meanwhile, Sharks winger Luke Covell will undergo scans on Tuesday and X-rays on Wednesday to determine the damage to his knee, but a reconstruction for a ruptured ACL in his knee is the most likely outcome.

Covell admitted he fears the worst and is fully expects to be sidelined for the remainder of the year.

"It looks like its the ACL, so I'll get scans on Tuesday to tell me the obvious but it looks like it'll be the season," Covell told BigPond Sports Weekend.

"I did it about six minutes into the game when I chased a kick down field and I knew there was something wrong with it.

"Then about twenty minutes later I went to tackle Jarryd Hayne and it just collapsed and I knew she was gone then for sure."

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